TROTTING HANDICAPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20978, 15 September 1931, Page 7

TROTTING HANDICAPS.

HORSES AT TWO MILES. SETBACK FROM NEW SYSTEM. The application of the revised handicapping system appears to bo very hard on aome horses over two miles, for a number have failed to make good over this distanco off looser marks than those on which they are now placed. Great Ballin, Tumatakuru and Queen Elizabeth have fuiled from 4.36, 4.37 and 4.38 respectively, but each now comes in on the 4.31 line. Great Parrish also suffers a set-back, although in his case he has succeeded in winning at two miles. Great Parrish's last win over the distance was in the Waimate Plains liandicap ot lluwera, off 4.38, and when subsequently placed on 4.35 at Auckland, he did not accept the mark. When the new handicapping table was published he appeared on 4.36. However, wnen he won the Massey Memorial Handicap, 10 furlongs, last month, oil 2.49. he was brought back to 2.47, which put him on the 4.34 two miles line. Taking a line through Ayrmont Chimes, who won the August Handicap off 4.34 and was a close second to him in the sprint race after conceding him 24 yards, Great Parrish gets no protection from the system. Ayrmont Chimes receives 21 yards penalty for winning the two miles event, while Great Parrish is also penalised the same extent nt this distance for narrowly winning a mile and a.quarter event. This is bad enough, but judging by the limits set for the two principal two miles races at Epsom next month. Groat Parrish and several others will require to give away another 12 yards if they wish to compete in them. While the new system does not penalise horses running third, there is a proviso that a third placing-in a class tighter than tho present mark of any competitor, will bo the basis of its future handicap. As it is now possible for horses to tighten up their two miles marks by winning a sprint race, owners will not be anxious to give away any handicap. In the case of tho Jellicoe nnd Labour Day Handicaps, with their 4.33 limit, on next month's programme, there are at least a dozen horses eligible for a 4.31 mailt whose owners may not feel disposed to riFk being placed from a 4.33 mark. Six of these are well-known local performers, Great Parrish, Great Ballin. Tumatnkuru. Trustworthy, Hal Chimes and Joy Bird, while a similar number of likely Southerners, Cranleigh, Sodium, Avonwood. Wilma Dillon. Great Author and Queen Elizabeth, are in the same category. Others could be cited, hut the main point at issue is the application of the rule to local competitors who arc more likely to be affected by the limits set for next month's meeting. It appeals that clubs when compiling their programmes in future will require to consult the handicapping table to see how it affects horses most likely to be catered for.